The welcome sign of Kalemyo which situated on a little higher ground than the town
before flood
during flood
Now I am in Netherlands for six days visiting old friends at YWAM base where my husband is giving some lectures. My husband supported me a lot in Myanmar. This is a time I am with him, accompany him and supporting what he is doing.
I saw lots bicycles and cyclists everywhere in Amsterdam and that really reminded me of Kalemyo. I was in Kalemyo when I was a little girl about 10 years old. That was when I learned how to ride a bicycle. Here again in Amsterdam, I am riding a bicycle all over the city. There is a flesh back in my mind flashes about Kalemyo.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
What surprise was the fact that while I was thinking about Kalemyo, I am getting emails and photos from Myanmar about Kalemyo. Kalemyo has been flooded. That really concerned me. I wanted to be there instantly in order to help out.
However someday, I hope we can be there to respond to the need. I am hoping and know that the situation is not bad as the Irrawaddy when it was affected by Cyclone in 2008.
Kalemyo has never experience this kind of flood before. They are feeling of fear and helpless. I want them to feel that they are not forgotten. I want them to feel love and care by others in such time of need. I cannot imagine now how many poor family who are struggling for their livelihood when water wet their food in storage.
I prayed that the help will come and the people will be comforted.
Kalemyo is 3 miles away from a river called "Myittha Mit" which means "Pleasant river" The flood mainly come from the rivers and from other creek all over Kalemyo. The flood was due to heavy rain and overflowing the river. The important part of the town has been flooded.
Some said, people die due to the flood but we cannot confirm this fact. If it is true, we will not know the real number. I pray that no one dies in this recent flood.
Kalemyo people like to keep their harvest from the rice field in order to live through the next year. With this flood, the food store for next year has been wet and cannot be used again.
Kalemyo is the main supply town for Northern Chin State. This flood will not only affect the food supply of Kaleymo but also the food supply of northern Chin ...
U.N helicopter services ended in Myanmar on 15 August 2009
Levi Sap Nei Thang
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
In not many days from now, I will be on my way back to Myanmar again. I have not been traveling since early July after an intense period of traveling in Myanmar from April to June 2009.
During these one and half months, I have been catching up on my sleep, physical rest, gaining strength in my spiritual life through prayers, catching up on my paper work and updating the website. As I update the website, many fond memories came back to me pertaining our work in Myanmar for the past one year and gratitude came into my heart for many volunteers, co-workers and friends that have labored with us together to assist the victims of Cyclone Nargis.
One group of people I must highlight in my journey in assisting the victims of Cyclone Nargis is the U.N. Humanitarian Air Services team. They have been most supportive to my work in Myanmar. I was previously notified by an U.N. leaderthat U.N. air services mandate in Myanmar would expired on August 15, 2009 and they had been applying for extension. They have sufficient funding to operate until the end of 2009. I still hope that extension would be granted to them as this humanitarian air services have been most effective to help many charitable entities like "i Love Myanmar" to assist the victims of Cyclone in the last one year.
Levi picked up by U.N helicopter in Irrawaddy
When the chief air transport officer wrote to me officially that the extension application has not been approved, I was very saddened by the news. Followed by emails from air services team members bidding "goodbye" to me. I am really sad. Words cannot describe how sad I am. We had labored together in the field through various condition e.g. landing on muddy land, going through monsoon rains and strong wind. I will miss laboring with such friends.
They have been true friends to me. I remembered vividly whenever I return to Myanmar, I would see glad faces at the airport greeting me. Their smile and joy always encourage me. I can feel that they really love me and appreciate the work that I am doing along side with their effort. They also cared much about the "i Love Myanmar" team. In several occasion they gave us priority in respond to our operational needs. At times, I felt they are like family not just friends.
Since the beginning of my effort to help victims of Cyclone, I have been very focus on the work. I did not have much time to make connection or network with other organizations. I spent a lot of time in the frontline. The U.N. humanitarian air services team is the only team I spent substantial time in Myanmar to interact and ...
My brother Charles Mangte &
I met with Minister Maung Maung Swe and the deputy minister Kyaw Myint of Relief
& resettlement for Cyclone victims on 25 June 2008.
We discuss the possibility of
rebuilding houses & schools for the cyclone victims. The ministers accepted
our kind gesture to assist the victims of Cyclone Nargis and offered discounted
building materials and equipment from the ministry of Forestry.
We deeply appreciate the support
and collaboration extended from the Minister's office. We hope this partnership
will benefit many helpless victims of Cyclone Nargis.
Highest winds: 165 km/h (105 mph) (3-minute sustained) 215 km/h (135 mph) (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure ≤ 962 hPa (mbar)
Fatalities: 77,738- 124,000
Damage: Unknown
Areas affected: Myanmar
Part of the 2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
Cyclone Nargis (also known as Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis) was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the deadliest natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar (also known as Burma). The cyclone made landfall in the country on May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 78,000 fatalities with a further 56,000 people still missing. However, Labutta Township alone was reported to have 80,000 dead and some have estimated the death toll may be well over 100,000.
Nargis is the deadliest named cyclone in the North Indian Ocean Basin, as well as the second deadliest named cyclone of all time, behind Typhoon Nina. Including unnamed storms, Nargis is the 8th deadliest cyclone of all time. Nargis was the first tropical cyclone to strike the country since Cyclone Mala made landfall in 2006.
The cyclone name "Nargis" is an Urdu word meaning daffodil. The first named storm of the 2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Nargis developed on April 27 in the central area of Bay of Bengal. Initially it tracked slowly northwestward and, encountering favorable conditions, it quickly strengthened. Dry air weakened the cyclone on April 29, though after beginning a steady eastward motion Nargis rapidly intensified to attain peak winds of at least 165 km/h (105 mph) on May 2; the Joint Typhoon Warning Center assessed peak winds of 215 km/h (135 mph). The cyclone moved ashore in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar near peak intensity and, after passing near the major city of Yangon (Rangoon), the storm gradually weakened until dissipating near the border of Myanmar and Thailand.
Storm history
In the last week of April 2008, an area of deep convection and concern persisted near a low-level circulation in the Bay of Bengal about 1150 km (715 mi) east-southeast of Chennai, India. With good outflow and low wind shear, the system slowly organized as its circulation consolidated.
At 0300 UTC on April 27, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) classified the system as a depression, and nine hours later the system intensified into a deep depression. At the same time, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center classified it as Tropical Cyclone. With a ridge to its north, the system tracked slowly north-northwestward as ...
Myanmar
